latch

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun spring-loaded doorlock that can only be opened from the outside with a key
  2. noun catch for fastening a door or gate; a bar that can be lowered or slid into a groove
  3. verb fasten with a latch

Etymology

From Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjaną, *lakwijaną, *lakkijaną (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂g-, *(s)leh₂gʷ- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

door latch

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